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[carpedm9587]

More Boogeyman Carpe caricature.

Of course it's what my opinion, based on the available evidence, tells me. Did you think I base my beliefs on someone else's opinions?

More Boogeyman Carpe caricature.

Nah, you just said:

Trump is as capable of doing evil things.

Yes - I did. Actually, everyone is capable of doing evil things. I don't know why this is a surprise. Trump is simply more predisposed to them than the norm.

That Trump is making steps towards genocide.

Umm...no. What I said is that I assess Trump to be at Stage 6. I have no idea if he is consciously taking steps to get there, or has reached that point in complete ignorance that the things he is doing are part of a path that is the classic "path to genocide" if it is not checked. If I had to guess, I would guess the latter. The man does not strike me as particularly informed.

That you will move, if Trump wins again.

This one is correct - but Trump would be the symptom - not the cause - leading to my potential move. As previously noted, I would move because of what that says about my fellow citizens and the depths to which this nation has plummeted, not simply because "Trump does X." If it were just a matter of disagreeing with Trump, I could easily ride out another 4 years.

Nope, totally different!

At this point, Pix, it has become more than clear that you are incapable and/or unwilling to recognize the degree to which you misunderstand and/or misrepresent my positions and end up arguing against a figment of your imagination instead of what I am actually saying. I've hung in there for a bit to see if maybe that might change, but I'm increasingly convinced it's not going to. You apparently see yourself as some form of "avenging angel" keeping the Boogeyman Carpe caricature from promulgating horrible messages unchecked - or at least that is the gist of one of your posts.

So I'm going to leave all of this to you and shift my approach with you. Going forward, I will answer directed questions only. After all, I don't want to be rude. But I'll let you make your side commentaries without response. That way you get to fight that bad old Boogeyman Carpe caricature to your heart's content, and I get to avoid the endless sequences trying to get you to see/understand the argument actually being made - which has become evident is a pointless exercise.

Be well.

[lilpixieofterror]

More Boogeyman Carpe caricature.

More Carp doublespeak.

Of course it's what my opinion, based on the available evidence, tells me. Did you think I base my beliefs on someone else's opinions?

The evidence you got from where?

More Boogeyman Carpe caricature.

More Carp avoidance.

Yes - I did. Actually, everyone is capable of doing evil things. I don't know why this is a surprise. Trump is simply more predisposed to them than the norm.

Your proof is based on what? Many politicians, famous figures, businessmen, normal joes, etc have done similar things. What makes Trump so much worse? Fact is, Trump is no worse than lots of people in his position, the difference is how one presents them and how much grace one extends. Just as my neighbor extends far more grace to his favored people. What makes Trump so much worse Carp? The fact he slept with someone and paid them not to talk? Lots of men do that, are they too more evil than average?

Umm...no. What I said is that I assess Trump to be at Stage 6. I have no idea if he is consciously taking steps to get there, or has reached that point in complete ignorance that the things he is doing are part of a path that is the classic "path to genocide" if it is not checked. If I had to guess, I would guess the latter. The man does not strike me as particularly informed.

This one is correct - but Trump would be the symptom - not the cause - leading to my potential move. As previously noted, I would move because of what that says about my fellow citizens and the depths to which this nation has plummeted, not simply because "Trump does X." If it were just a matter of disagreeing with Trump, I could easily ride out another 4 years.

At this point, Pix, it has become more than clear that you are incapable and/or unwilling to recognize the degree to which you misunderstand and/or misrepresent my positions and end up arguing against a figment of your imagination instead of what I am actually saying. I've hung in there for a bit to see if maybe that might change, but I'm increasingly convinced it's not going to. You apparently see yourself as some form of "avenging angel" keeping the Boogeyman Carpe caricature from promulgating horrible messages unchecked - or at least that is the gist of one of your posts.

So I'm going to leave all of this to you and shift my approach with you. Going forward, I will answer directed questions only. After all, I don't want to be rude. But I'll let you make your side commentaries without response. That way you get to fight that bad old Boogeyman Carpe caricature to your heart's content, and I get to avoid the endless sequences trying to get you to see/understand the argument actually being made - which has become evident is a pointless exercise.

Be well.

[carpedm9587]

More Carp doublespeak.

The evidence you got from where?

Mostly watching and listening to Trump speak (rallies, SOTU, press conferences, international audiences, interviews, calls into talk shows, etc.), reading his tweets, reviewing his executive orders, and looking at the policies his administration puts in place. Also looking into his general history.

More Carp avoidance.

Your proof is based on what?

See above.

Many politicians, famous figures, businessmen, normal joes, etc have done similar things. What makes Trump so much worse?

The frequency and consistency with which he does them.

Fact is, Trump is no worse than lots of people in his position, the difference is how one presents them and how much grace one extends. Just as my neighbor extends far more grace to his favored people. What makes Trump so much worse Carp?

See above.

The fact he slept with someone and paid them not to talk?

One data point.

Lots of men do that, are they too more evil than average?

I'd have to know what else they did.

My crazy neighbor thought we were pretty far along too because guess what?

I have no idea.

I'm sure some of them are - and some are not. In this case, I think it takes someone who badly compromises their own ethics (or doesn't have any to begin with) to vote for this man after the last 3.5 years. If the majority of our population is of that ilk, or doesn't care enough to take the legal steps to get him out of office, this is not the country for me. It's kind of like deciding that you don't want to live in a particular neighborhood because you drive by and all of the lawns have "blood and soil" or "support pro-choice" signs on the lawn. If those don't align with your ethical views, you might look around and say, "I don't think I want to live here."

[Sparko]

Carp, you and Lpot argue like an old married couple.

[oxmixmudd]

Just to make sure someone says it: pixie's characterization of what Carpe has said here, and of Carpe himself, simply is not reality.

[firstfloor]

In case you still think that covid 19 is an ordinary flu.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/healt...s-blood-clots/

[lilpixieofterror]

Mostly watching and listening to Trump speak (rallies, SOTU, press conferences, international audiences, interviews, calls into talk shows, etc.), reading his tweets, reviewing his executive orders, and looking at the policies his administration puts in place. Also looking into his general history.

The frequency and consistency with which he does them.

I'm sure some of them are - and some are not. In this case, I think it takes someone who badly compromises their own ethics (or doesn't have any to begin with) to vote for this man after the last 3.5 years. If the majority of our population is of that ilk, or doesn't care enough to take the legal steps to get him out of office, this is not the country for me. It's kind of like deciding that you don't want to live in a particular neighborhood because you drive by and all of the lawns have "blood and soil" or "support pro-choice" signs on the lawn. If those don't align with your ethical views, you might look around and say, "I don't think I want to live here."

[lilpixieofterror]

Just to make sure someone says it: pixie's characterization of what Carpe has said here, and of Carpe himself, simply is not reality.

Says the crazy person. Can you please explain the difference between you and Carp (Who believe Trump is pretty darn evil) vs crazy right wingers, who think Obama is pretty darn evil?

[carpedm9587]

Carp, you and Lpot argue like an old married couple.

Not anymore.

Seriously, I was holding out hope that this tendency she has to ignore parts of my post and add to my meaning might be subject to change, but it pretty clearly is not. She doesn't even know (or at least acknowledge) that she's doing it. So I'm going to limit myself to answering direct questions going forward. That's the same decision I made concerning MM, who does the same thing. In MM's case, the degree of his bias and his blindness to it (exhibited by his list of media classifications and his insistence that he is capable of mitigating his bias through "honest self-assessment") makes any further discussion rather pointless. There is no room for consideration and change there and I should have accepted that long ago.

I'm sure THOSE observations will be allowed to fly without comment...

[carpedm9587]

Just to make sure someone says it: pixie's characterization of what Carpe has said here, and of Carpe himself, simply is not reality.

Thanks. It helps to have a external voice verifying my sanity.

[carpedm9587]

That assessment would depend on where on the moral continuum someone put sexual harassment and adultery as well as what else LBJ did and did not do. I don't have enough information about LBJ to form an opinion.

Anecdotally, the sum total of his moral afflictions as compared to his positive attributes (of which there are precious few).

[lilpixieofterror]

That assessment would depend on where on the moral continuum someone put sexual harassment and adultery as well as what else LBJ did and did not do. I don't have enough information about LBJ to form an opinion.



Anecdotally, the sum total of his moral afflictions as compared to his positive attributes (of which there are precious few).

[Cow Poke]

Thanks. It helps to have a external voice verifying my sanity.

But don't the voices in your head outnumber that external voice?

[carpedm9587]

But don't the voices in your head outnumber that external voice?

We do not!

[carpedm9587]

So we are now sitting at 845,822 confirmed infections in the U.S., That puts us slightly ahead of the next five nations combined, which are Spain, Italy, France, Germany, and the UK. We have a comparable population (324M combined for them to our 330M). We have 2,585 confirmed infections per million pop and they collectively have 2,574 per million pop. Unfortunately, we have 30% more new cases per day (on average) than the 5 combined, so we will continue to pull ahead of them if that doesn't change.

We have 145 deaths per million pop to their 324. The rate is about the same, and the UK is spiking, so we have done better than those five on that front so far. We have 12,651 tests per million pop to their 15,900, so we are still behind on testing.

The true gem in that set is Germany. Their infection rate is 1,810 per million, their deaths are 63/million and their testing is at 20,629 per million. They have been on top of trace/test/treat from the outset and have done one of the best jobs out there.

Unfortunately, weeks after the start of this pandemic, basic things are still not in place and governors are still asking for the same things - which are basically not forthcoming. And now we have the media over-covering what are basically fairly minor protests (with the exception of a few larger ones) ans momentum is building for what I consider to be a premature reopening. Prediction: we're going to get hit with a second wave before the first one is even over, and it will be someone else's fault, of course.

ETA: we now sit at 47,479 deaths and 46,452 of those have happened in the last four weeks. So basically, we have seen as much death due to this virus in 28 days as we do in a "worse than average" flu season of 4-6 months. If the death rate does not begin to slow, we will exceed the worst flue season within one week. The means we will have lost in 5 weeks more people than the worst 4-6 month flu season. But I'm sure we'll see more "it's no worse than the flu" posts shortly.